Party for Two
by Clarisse Renaldi
Summary: Clarisse spends the New Year's Eve in the empty palace, but fortunately Joseph is working that night...


**Party for Two**

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, just the storyline.

It was a special time, the last day of the year. Everyone in the palace was excited.

Charlotte wanted to go to a new club in town. Mia and Lily prepared to attend a house party. And Shades and the rest of the security team made arrangements for a private party. Everyone wanted to go out that night. Yes, everyone, except two – the Queen and her Head of Security.

The truth was that Her Majesty rather liked to stay at home. After all, it wasn't possible in the last 40 years, because of her duties, but now she was free. She was a widowed queen so hosting the annual party was not appropriate anymore. And she was happy with that. Her plan for the night involved a cup of hot chocolate and maybe a movie or a good book from her private library.

And what about Joseph? Well, the boys had of course invited him to the party of the century as they called it, but he had a duty to perform. He was the Head of Security, and the boss would have to work that night. It was the least he could do. He would make the sacrifice himself for the staff's good time. And everyone was very grateful to him for that.

But they didn't know the real reason for it. Why did he stay? That was very simple. Why would he go to a party when he could spend the night with Clarisse? Protecting her. Caring about her. That was all he wanted. Just watching her from afar and guarding her safety.

OOOOOOOOOOO

The night finally arrived. By ten o'clock the whole palace was empty. Everyone was somewhere else. Only the Queen was at home with a security man. That was all she knew – just a security man.

So, after Clarisse dressed in something comfortable, she went down to the kitchen, planning to make some hot chocolate. She was enjoying the feel of the empty palace. Everything was quiet and peaceful. She was all alone. Almost…

Joseph followed her every move from the security room. It wasn't boring. On the contrary, this was his favorite TV show. His very own Big Brother. And where else could he see Clarisse in the leading role? So he was very happy with his evening; Clarisse was on TV and he could dream about her…

In the kitchen, Clarisse struggled a bit with the coffee machine, but soon she realized it was broken. And that meant no hot chocolate this night. She was a bit disappointed, but she went back to her suite, curled up her legs and started reading something from P. G. Wodehouse. Wodehouse always lighted her mood…

Meanwhile, Joseph had an idea.

Some forty minutes later, he knocked on Clarisse's door…

"Come in." was her answer, although, she had absolutely no idea who would disturb her at that late hour.

"Good evening, Your Majesty." said Joseph with a smile as he closed the door behind him.

"Oh, Joseph!" cried Clarisse with a smile. "What a lovely surprise. I didn't know that you were the one on duty tonight. You came off the loser, didn't you?"

"On the contrary," Joseph answered. "If I were at a party, then who would bring you hot chocolate tonight?" Joseph sat the pot of warm liquid on the little coffee table next to her.

"Hot chocolate? But how --? The machine is broken."

"Yes, I know. But there is an all-night café not far away."

"Not far away?" asked Clarisse with a smile. "It's nearly in Libbet."

"Just a few minutes." Joseph said as he filled her mug with the steaming chocolate and handed it to her.

"Thank you… Joseph." smiled Clarisse and licked the last bit off her lips a little slower then necessary. "Come and sit down. Drink with me."

"No thanks, I don't want to disturb you."

"Why do you think that you would disturb me?" asked Clarisse chuckling as she patted the sofa next to her.

"I know how you feel about an evening like this," Joseph smiled and sat down.

"And how do I feel?" asked Clarisse, her smile widening.

She was so extremely beautiful, even in pajamas, that Joseph hardly could remember what he wanted to say.

"You seem to be really enjoying it. Spending a night all alone is not a punishment for you. No, this is heaven for you," Joseph finished and gazed into her eyes with a meaningful smile.

Clarisse regarded him for a moment in silence, before smiling again. "You know me inside and out."

"I'm trying my best."

"Then if you know me so well, you would surely know that I love chatting with you. And besides, your job is to protect me. Surely you can better protect me from here. Am I right?"

"You are right," chuckled Joseph and poured himself a cup of chocolate. But while he reached out to take hold of it, he accidentally brushed her hand. And it was one of _those_ moments – a moment when time freezes. Both of them felt the electricity in the touch, but they were too shy to look at each other.

Joseph almost dropped his cup. "Oh, I'm sorry – how clumsy of me," Joseph said nervously.

"That was my fault." answered Clarisse.

"No. No. I should have been more careful," he smiled. Both of them were completely disconcerted.

"Well, never mind… " her voice trailed off, then she said the first thing that popped into her head. "The… palace is really beautiful tonight. The decorations and… everything."

"Oh… yes, you're right. Why don't we take a look around?"

"Lovely idea." Clarisse smiled nervously and stood up.

So they went for a walk…

The palace was dark and empty, but the lights of the garden softly accented everything around them. They walked in silence and enjoyed this peaceful new side of the normally busy and bustling place where they lived. They also reveled in the closeness between them. Their hands were next to each other, dangerously close, but neither of them dared to move, nonetheless the contact was very hard to resist.

They were walked like that for a few minutes, when suddenly a loud noise erupted from a dark corner. Joseph immediately grabbed Clarisse's hand and stepped in front of her.

Clarisse was a bit scared, but it was only a bigger ball from the decorations, which fell down from a Christmas tree. Since it was a false alarm, they continued on their way… still holding hands. At first they just simply forgot about their hands were still clasped. Then later it became awkward to pull it away, and frankly, they had not the slightest intention of doing letting go. It felt too good.

A little later, they stopped before the big French windows, because the annual fireworks show had begun. It was a tradition in Genovia, every year.

"We didn't notice it's already midnight," smiled Clarisse.

"You're right," laughed Joseph, then turned to look at her. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," smiled Clarisse, lost in his eyes for a moment.

"From now on…" Joseph started, "we have to be very careful, because what we will do today--"

"We will do the same for the whole upcoming year," Clarisse finished. "Yes, I know. Do you have any ideas?"

"Well, I only have one," whispered Joseph and leant closer to kiss her. Suddenly everything slowed down – Clarisse couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel anything, but Joseph. He completely intoxicated her with only a kiss. She could barely feel her legs; she was certain they had turned to jelly. As for Joseph… He could not believe this magic. He was standing there with Clarisse in his arms, holding her in his arms and kissing her… She wasn't pushing him away… This must be a fantasy.

A few moments later, when the fireworks were over, Clarisse slowly broke the kiss. That was the moment when Joseph regained touch with reality.

"So…" said Clarisse mused, looking at him apprasingly.

"I know I shouldn't have --" Joseph started, trying to explain. He was desperate. He knew it had been only a dream…

"Wait. I haven't finished yet" Clarisse said. "So if we're kissing on the first day of the year, does that means we will kiss the rest of the year too?" asked Clarisse as she finally smiled at him.

"I think so." answered Joseph, very relieved.

"Well, then… I must say, this was a very good idea," Clarisse smiled and kissed him happily with her heart full of love.

And what happened in the rest of the year? They would tell us, if only they had stopped kissing since then…

The End

**Author's Note:** Happy New Year Everybody! I hope you all were careful with the first day of the year.  I watched a few scenes from PD, wrote this story and read one story from Captain Weirdo. So the continuity is assured…


End file.
